These old bananas have worn out their welcome in my kitchen and need to find their way into a banana bread, not my compost heap. Since I have some buttermilk in the refrigerator, I wanted to try a banana bread recipe with it and make these old black things sing, so when I found William-Sonoma’s recipe, I had to give it a try in a camp Dutch oven. After tasting this easy recipe, I decided it needed a lot more banana flavor, so here’s how I will do it next time!

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

6 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Prepare a 10-inch deep camp Dutch oven by applying a light coat of vegetable oil and then sprinkling flour around the oven. Gently turn over and tap out excess flour.

Set out two bowls. In one bowl add butter, sugar, bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together with a large fork until smooth. Add buttermilk and beat a few more times.

In the other bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and nuts.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and gently fold together until just combined. The batter will be lumpy. Do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared camp Dutch oven. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit by placing 14 hot charcoals on the lid and 8 hot coals underneath. You know it is done when you can smell the bananas, see the bread pulling away from the edge of the Dutch oven, and a toothpick comes out clean.

You will need to replace the charcoals to keep it baking at 350 and you will want to turn the lid and oven in opposite direction to avoid hot spots. This recipe works perfectly in a 10-inch deep camp Dutch oven. It needs the depth to keep the top from rising up too close to the top and gives it room to brown nicely. Easy and delicious!